John Howkins is a well-known figure in the development of China's creative economy. He visits China frequently to meet government and business leaders.

In 2006 the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Shanghai School of Creativity, Shanghai Theatre Academy, set up the John Howkins Research Centre on the Creative Economy. He is an adviser to the Shanghai Creative Industries Association and the Shanghai Creative Industry Centre, as well as to the NanChang Government, Wuxi.

He first visited China in 1979 and wrote Mass Communication in China, 1982,
a first-hand account of the country's expanding TV, film, publishing and telecoms industries.